The Story: Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) are two loveable goofs who peddle an energy drink called Minotaur to teenagers. When Danny gets dumped by his girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) he has a breakdown and causes an accident. Their only two options are jail or community service and thinking they’re taking the easy way out they pick the latter. Forced to be big brothers in the Sturdy Wings program Danny is stuck with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a boy in love with role playing games, while Wheeler is paired with the foul mouthed Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson).
Pros: In watching this for the second time, the first being in theaters, it still holds up on DVD. Role Models is a witty and clever take on films involving man-children and the kids they’re forced to spend time with. I’ve heard people compare this to The Toy and Bad News Bears (mind you I haven’t seen those so I can’t judge). Paul Rudd continues to be a hysterical leading man and his chemistry with Scott is perfect. Seann William Scott hasn’t done anything memorable since American Pie but here he does exactly what he’s good at, foul mouthed comedy and that’s not a bad thing. The two older actors truly shine once they’re paired with their “little brothers.” Bobb’e J. Thompson steals every scene as the 9-year-old hellion Ronnie. Every quote is one that you’d probably say to your friends and they could have made the whole movie about him. This kid has a bright future in comedy if this is any indication. Jane Lynch also has some hilarious moments as the reformed drug addict and founder of Sturdy Wings. She’s always perfect in these small cameos and here she’s brilliant.
Cons: In watching this after awhile I noticed how it seems Christopher Mintz-Plasse is on his way to being typecast. His character Augie is the loveable nerd who wants the girl and he’s a geekier version of his McLovin’ role in Superbad. Hopefully Mintz-Plasse will do something outside this genre because he brings nothing new to the table and his character is incredibly weak compared to everyone else. It’s also odd that so much time is devoted to his characters interest in role playing games. The entire last half is dominated by this and if you have no interest in this it’s going to ruin the ending. I also noticed that the movie a bit too long winded, mostly because of that ending.
Features: There some great features on here that will sate the die-hard fans of this movie as well as the casual observer. There is an Unrated version on here but honestly I didn’t notice anything, supposedly it’s only three minutes of additional footage so really you can watch the theatrical cut and not miss anything. There is a commentary on the theatrical cut with director David Wain that’s interesting. He describes how the film had multiple shoots and was stitched together which you wouldn’t notice. He does seem a bit bored with it at times but it’s an entertaining look at the film. There are deleted and alternate scenes that give some great looks at additional characters and lines. It’s 25 minutes and thoroughly entertaining. Bloopers is a pretty standard series of flubbed lines and horseplay, if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. On the Set of Role Models is odd because it starts off talking about the language in the film then reverts to a really bland making-of featurette. Game On: Recreating a Role Playing World will be interesting to those who enjoy the role playing game in the movie. If you’re like me and thought it was boring in the film you might want to shy away from this feature. In Character & Off-Script is improvisation from a few of the actors but I didn’t laugh at all so I don’t really see the point of it.
Overall: Role Models is a hilarious film and one you should definitely purchase if you’re looking for a raunchy comedy. I give the movie a 4/5 and DVD gets a 3.5/5.
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